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Hey guys, I have a tough problem I need to noodle, and I'm hoping to "be befuddled among friends".

Just for some background on me, I'm a member over at ASAP. I'm an amateur, but I have some experience with lifecasting and latex appliances.

I'm in the process of building a Viper pilot helmet from the BSG series. I'm working on the sculpt right now, and I estimate that I have about a weeks worth of work remaining. My next step will be to create molds. I'm planning on doing a test run with Plaster of Paris, and if the sculpt survives, a second one in Ultracal. Superfine detail is not terribly important on this.

This is where I need advice. What I'd like to do is a slush cast in a transparent 2 part resin. This is my ideal technique, because it would allow for a 1 piece helmet if I didn't have to worry about making the faceplate seperately. It would also make wiring the lights much easier. Does anyone have experience doing a slushcast with polyester resins like this: http://www.rplastics.com/castingresin.html ?

If this worked, I could get a nice clear helmet and possibly re-enforce the parts that don't need to be transparent with just about anything.

Also: I live in an apartment with cats. Fiberglass isn't really an option.

It seems that you're interested in learning more about working with resin etc. This is brand new to me so if anyone could point me towards as much information on the subject as possible-tutorials would be even better. And where does one buy the molds used to make resin SW helmets and armor? Any help anyone could give would be great. Thanks!

Thanks, but I already have the thurston james book. It's pretty good, but I'm afraid this helmet poses some really unique problems. I've resigned myself to not being able to finish this by Halloween...

Anyhoo, I don't think a gigantic plaster negative could be used to slush cast. It's just too heavy and unweildy. I'm going to start exploring vac forming this thing in multiple pieces, which I'm sure will be a huge pita.

So those are some reference photos. I'm thinking i should vac form the faceplate and maybe fiberglass the rest. What I'm uncear about though is how to ensure that the 2 difference pieces will mate correctly. Can anyone esplain to me how that would work?